Club Ecopetrol in Bogotá was the venue of the Workshop on Assessment of Psychosocial Risk Factors held with the participation of professionals of seven companies from Mexico, Costa Rica, Argentina and Colombia with the purpose of exchanging experiences in the implementation of assessments of psychosocial risk factors in companies.

The agenda covered the two guidelines developed by ARPEL's Occupational Health Team and the Psychosocial Risk Factors Assessment Guidelines developed by the Ministry of Social Protection in Colombia, which have been adopted by the Association as the methodological reference on this topic.

The mental health of workers is increasingly important in companies, as well as in regulations, and relevant regulations move forward in the different countries in the region. Cintya King, Occupational Health Professional of Ecopetrol, stated that "emotional health is just as important as physical health." Based on this premise, the path to psychosocial risk factor assessment and monitoring becomes a key aspect of health care from a holistic perspective.

In addition to presenting the tools available, the workshop focused on the experience of Ecopetrol, the most advanced company in this field, and this was a trigger for a rich exchange among the professionals who attended the workshop.

In this regard, Carlos Cifuentes, Occupational Health Leader of Ecopetrol, said that "we are at the forefront in this issue, but knowing the experiences of other companies and countries it is possible to enrich everything we have" and also stated that "positioning the subject and expanding coverage" are the main challenges.

Gonzalo Pérez Bardeci, of YPF Argentina, referred to the acceleration of the learning curve and the savings that this type of activities represent, and stated that "the implementation will not be an easy process, but having learned about the path followed by Ecopetrol in the implementation process will be help us to start our own path little by little."

ARPEL will continue to work on this issue by providing support to those companies that begin their journey in psychosocial risk factors assessment, and, in addition, it will work to disseminate the concept of healthy work environments.

The Workshop on Management of Consumption of Psychoactive Substances in Oil and Gas Companies will be held September 20 - 21 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.